I am Health-Care PoA for my mother & father, so I've been dealing with Medicare Part D since it came out. Now that they are both in a nursing home, I have spoken at length with the nurse/admin who is responsible for Medicare Part D for all Medicaid patients.

There are several considerations when selecting a plan:1. Does it cover all my meds?2. How much will it cost me for my current meds? (That is, what is my total payment for coverage & medications?)3. How large is the plan formulary? (That is, how many drugs do they cover - what is the likelihood they'll cover a new med should I need it?)4. What pharmacies can I use? What options do I have for mail-order service?5. Does the plan provide any coverage for the "donut hole"?

Overall experience (mine & the nursing home's) is that the Humana plans and the AARP plans are the best. They each offer 3 levels of coverage (basic if you take few/no meds, enhanced if you take some meds, and "premium" if you require a lot of medication), and they each have a formulary that covers about 98-99% of prescription drugs. The prices vary from year to year (neither company is consistently cheaper than they other), and they also vary based on whether you use mail-order or not.

To compare plan prices, go to the http://www.medicare.gov website- Select tab for "Health & Drug Plans" (second from the top)- The heading "Finding Plans" will be displayed - select the first hyperlink ("Compare Drug and Health Plans")- From there, it has step-by-step instructions for entering your data.

Now for a couple of personal notes:-> I talked with Mom & Dad's pharmacist, and he told me that Humana tends to reimburse pharmacies at a lower rate. The rates are low enough that he reconsiders each year whether to continue accepting it.-> I found mail-order to be a real hassle with Humana - there was a lot of paperwork involved, I couldn't call in to refill a prescription, and prescription management was not available via the website. The biggest problem was that they were extremely inflexible in their addressing. Medication could not be sent "in care of" a 3rd party or to a different address - that was a big issue for a friend of mine who had to move in with his daughters for 3 months while recuperating from major surgery. (I have no mail-order experience with AARP.)

Karen thanks for the great advice. Humana doesnt carry 3 of my meds . AArp is very costly , so I think I am going with medco medicare and going mail order , I was with medco before and with mail order and I know they have my drugs and since they are all maintence meds this would be the way to go. have signed the dotted line yet . want to check all options. Roz thank you so much

They had me put on Cigna when I first got my insurance and I've kept it ever since. So I dont know anything about it. Most of my pills (180 Percocets are $2.50) and they pay well on my visits so I dont change anything every year. Wished I could help more.